Lily Anderson

Language/Content.  A teen girl investigates the suspicious deaths of three classmates and accidentally ends up bringing them back to life to form a hilariously unlikely--and unwilling--vigilante girl gang.

Undead girl gang

Alexa M

Oh I had so much fun with this! I read the entire thing in a day I was enjoying it far too much!

For a YA mystery it kept me on the edge of my seat, the actual mystery part was so good, the build up, the revel…all great!! I really enjoyed how different it was to the typical mystery too, how often do you raise your best friend from the dead to solve a murder??

The ending was so bitter sweet but it wrapped up so nice and neatly, it was really satisfying!

Jamieson

Riddle me this: there are people on this hellsite that read yeti/human porn and yet a book with potentially the best premise in the world (girl raises murdered BFF from the dead to try and solve her murder) isn't even getting THE HYPE it deserves??


  "There's nowhere to step on the rotting porch that doesn't come with a screech or a groan of wood, so I walk with my usual sense of purpose. Boots on the ground. Collar up. Zombies behind me."


So, this book is fucking fantastic and not just because it has the best premise ever. It was so fun, had a really interesting cast of characters, a compelling mystery, witchy and zombie stuff, lots of diversity and was so funny that it made me laugh out loud in parts. 


  



  the good


→ SO MUCH FUN  
This whole book was just so funny and easy to read and feel good. The girls all coming back as zombies, with a healthy dose of zombie gore such as heads falling off and wrists snapping out of place was kind of campy and meta and it was great. This book knew exactly where to make fun of it's own genre, if you've ever seen Warm Bodies or What We Do in the Shadows its similar vibe to those. I really liked how this book kind of laughed at it's own ridiculousness. I also LOVED the narrators snarky, sarcastic narration. It was so funny and so REFRESHING and I loved her take no shit attitude. I feel like if you liked the concept of Leah being snarky in Leah on the Offbeat but didn't like the execution, you'll like this. I feel it was a similar concept but I liked how it functioned in this book a lot more. 

→ THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP!  
Most of this book is about Mila, Riley, Dayton and June's friendship and how their friendships change throughout this book. Mila and Riley are best friends but June and Dayton are the school mean girls. Undead Girl Gang definitely looked at the mean girl trope and deconstructed it. I thought that was really fun. I just really loved how so much of this book was about teen girls and how cool they are. I also really liked the focus on redemption and the concept that, as people, we're all growing. And that you can't expect teenage girls to be perfect models of what a person should be DESPITE how they are portrayed. 

→ THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP!  
Most of this book is about Mila, Riley, Dayton and June's friendship and how their friendships change throughout this book. Mila and Riley are best friends but June and Dayton are the school mean girls. Undead Girl Gang definitely looked at the mean girl trope and deconstructed it. I thought that was really fun. I just really loved how so much of this book was about teen girls and how cool they are. I also really liked the focus on redemption and the concept that, as people, we're all growing. And that you can't expect teenage girls to be perfect models of what a person should be DESPITE how they are portrayed. 

→ WELL DEVELOPED CHARACTERS  I loved that each character had such distinct interests and hobbies and personalities. SO OFTEN I feel like teenage girls in books have literally no traits. They're just kinda there. This was NOT the case here. June loves astrology and her interjections about astrology were hilarious. (I'm a Taurus. I don't forgive. lmfao) Dayton loves singing and swimming and her remorse about dying before she could enjoy these things was really refreshing .. I feel like so much "dying" narratives revolve around love/sex stuff like that, it was cool she was sad she couldn't do things she loved anymore. Mila and Riley, of course, are super into Wicca and magic and are both creative, Mila especially. 

→ WITCHINESS  This is probably the only book I've read with a serious Wiccan main character and it was really refreshing to read about. I liked that the different covens in the area came into play and the creepy vibe kinda reminded me of The Raven Boys. 

→ DIVERSITY So the main character is Mexican and fat and has anxiety, and there is lesbian witches, plus a black fat side character, and much more. 


  "If you would kill for me. Then you can die for me. "


 why not 5 stars 

→ ENDING  The ending wasn't bad, per say. I just didn't buy it. I definitely thought it could have been stronger and I would have liked to see things more thoroughly wrapped up. One incident at the end, in particular, I really thought needed more closure than what it got. I also felt like certain reveals were too rushed and more build up was needed. Overall, I think this book could have just been like .... 50 pages longer? 

→ FAMILY  Most of Mila and Riley's family is absent throughout this book and I kinda wish they hadn't been. The family dynamics, especially with Mila and her sisters was so promising at the start and I felt it kinda got thrown aside. I wish it had been developed more. 


  “A scoop of dried rosemary goes into the bag, followed by salt. Sometimes, magic looks a lot like how my mom prepares chicken.”


I had SO MUCH FUN reading this book. The whole premise was so unique and this entire book felt extremely fresh. I can't think of any books with a premise or set up that feel at all similar. The focus on teenage girls being valid and growing was nice and the mystery was really well written. I really enjoyed this and it definitely needs more hype !

Kelsey Joëlle

So, I wasn't feeling this book when I first started it. I had the idea that it would be a lame book. But it wasn't. I really liked it!

It has the typical 'Mean Girl Dies And Comes Back As A Better Person' cliche. But, that was all. Loved the characters, did find out who the killer was halfway through the book.

Emma

I don't even know where to begin! This book was remarkable. I don't normally get choked up by books, but Mila's pain was palpable. Such a gd good book. So bad@ss. There's a little bit of everything in this story: heartbreak, mystety, romance, GIRL POWER FRIENDSHIP, action... Loved this story to death (and back 😉)

Jana Jenkinns 

Not what I was expecting when I read "Veronica Mars meets the Craft" . My biggest critism would be the lack of trigger warnings for those who may find some of the content of this book to be disturbing in any means. Despite that, I'm glad I stuck it out to the end. 2.5/5.

Zoe Smolen

This is definitely a fun book, but I also didn't love it as much I as I wanted to. The story has depths, shows true friendship, and even has a nice plot twist. However, I didn't find myself super invested in the story. That being said, I do think I would have loved this book when I was a teen myself! 

Thanks to Penguin for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Amanda Autumn Berrey

Wow ok. I really liked this one. I think it was a really cute story and even though I somewhat guessed the ending my motive was incorrect

Undead girl gang

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